SMU guard Derek Williams on offense against Rice last Wednesday at Moody Coliseum. SMU won the game 67-57. (CASEY LEE/The Daily Campus)

The SMU men’s basketball team will play East Carolina University on the road tonight, hoping to secure the Mustangs first win over the Pirates since the 2006-07 season.

Although the Mustangs have the No. 2 scoring defense in Conference USA, they have struggled on the road in the past, especially against the Pirates. This season, SMU is 3-8 overall away from Moody. ECU (9-17, 3-2), however, has just a single win on their home court in league play.

The Mustangs will look to improve their points allowed per game average, which has been 13.3 points per game. Ten of SMU’s 12 opponents have been held below their average; eight of them posting scores at least 11 points below their average.

SMU’s ability to hold three opponents to fewer than 50 points also marks the first time since 1957-58 that the program has accomplished such a feat.

Heading into tonight’s game, the Mustangs hold the definite scoring advantage with four players posting double figure scores in the team’s last game against Memphis.

Leading score Derek Williams, Mouhammad Faye, Papa Dia and Robert Nyakundi, to name a few, the Mustangs have been averaging 66.7 points per game, compared to ECU’s 67.

Leading the Pirates is 5-foot-11-inch junior guard Brock Young with 15 points per game, and 6-foot-8-inch sophomore forward Darrius Morrow with 12.2 points and 6.8 rebounds.

However, while ECU ranks higher than the Mustangs in scoring offense, the Pirates have the worst scoring defensein the 12-team C-USA. East Carolina also has the worst turnover margin in league play.

SMU and ECU are meeting for the sixth time overall and fifth time since the teams joined C-USA. SMU holds a 3-2 advantage, but the teams are split at 2-2 in league play. The Pirates have won the last two meetings, defeating the Mustangs 80-74 last season in Dallas. Tune in to the CBS College Sports Network at 6 p.m. tonight.